1st grow. looking for feedback

Hey everyone, I'm new to these forums and am just beginning my first grow. I'm looking for any input or feedback you have on my room/ladies! The room currently fluctuates between 70 (night) and 85 (day), but typically sits around 80. Humidity is usually between 30 and 50 percent. Any suggestions to improve efficiency and/or lower temp would be greatly appreciated!

So here is what I am working with:

GrowLab 120 (4'x4'x6.5')
6" Hydrofarm Raidaint AC reflector
1000w Mh bulb
1000w conv. ballast
265 cfm squirrel blower exhausting hood
165 cfm inline fan (w/ hepa filter) for fresh air intake into room
165 cfm inline fan blowing air through hood
humidifier
oscillating fan
6' ducting for blower/inline fans
fox farm ocean forest soil
2 and 3 gallon smart pots in plastic trays

Hopefully you can tell from the pictures how everything is hooked up, but if not I'll be sure and clarify. Also, I attached a picture of one of my ladies who I think is showing signs of the pH being too high??

Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures and if I forgot anything, I'll try and get some better ones posted tomorrow. Until then, happy medicating!

Looks like you have a pretty good setup
You gotta keep the temps down, 85 is kinda high, try to keep below 80, 75-80
what strains are you growing?
Looks, like heat stress, shouldn't be ph probs this early and with Fox Farms soil

85 is fine for weed. ideally it should be around 75 ish, 80's won't kill it. although they are kind of wilted. you might want to reconfigure the way you have the ventilation to the light hooked up. as a suggestion, get that inline fan pulling air through the hepa filter out of there. let the ventilation happen naturally, through air pressure. maybe the fan is heating up the air as it's being pulled into the tent....

i see some yellowing too.

are you ph-ing the water properly?? what do you use to measure it??

hardroc said:

Looks like you have a pretty good setup
You gotta keep the temps down, 85 is kinda high, try to keep below 80, 75-80
what strains are you growing?
Looks, like heat stress, shouldn't be ph probs this early and with Fox Farms soil

Click to expand...

Thanks! Yea the tent had risen above 85 a few times last week, but since then I've purchased the 2nd inline fan which helps keep the temp down.

The strains are (from left to right)
front row: Chemdawg, Jack Herrer, Island Sweet Skunk
2nd row: LA Woman, Toe Jam, Flo
3rd row: Durban Poison, Skywalker, Sugar Berry
back row: LA Woman, Cristo Blanco, Skywalker

heres another picture of the back rows

redivider said:

85 is fine for weed. ideally it should be around 75 ish, 80's won't kill it.

i see some yellowing too.

are you ph-ing the water properly?? what do you use to measure it??

Click to expand...

Yea the yellowing is occuring on the big leaves of the Flo, while on the Island sweet skunk the new growth is a little yellow. I use ph up/down and the liquid drops tester. I've been using no nutrients, only tap water filtered through a brita and been trying to keep the ph a little below 6.5.

Nice list you have there, no 85 won't kill 'em but it can hinder growth and crisp up your leafs. I like mine at 80 or just a little lower

getting a digital pH meter tomorrow. hopefully that should help

Looks ok to me but Im a new grower.

Hopper

Looks awsome man, How long has it been since germination? I wouldn't worry too much about your temps, as long as you keep some air moving they should be fine till the high 80's. Mine actually has hit 90's on some of the warmer days this spring (its a full time job keeping temps), and i've had no signs of fatigue. The only thought off the top of my head is the location of your intake and exhaust.. Is your exhaust exclusive to the lamp, or is there and exhaust somewhere on the top region of your enclosure?

SimplySmoked said:

Looks awsome man, How long has it been since germination? I wouldn't worry too much about your temps, as long as you keep some air moving they should be fine till the high 80's. Mine actually has hit 90's on some of the warmer days this spring (its a full time job keeping temps), and i've had no signs of fatigue. The only thought off the top of my head is the location of your intake and exhaust.. Is your exhaust exclusive to the lamp, or is there and exhaust somewhere on the top region of your enclosure?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! I actually got clones from a friend, not seeds. the plants vary in age but most are around 2-3 weeks old.

So currently on the lower right side of the tent I have a 4" hydrofarm inline fan (165cfm) with hepa filter (which slows air flow quite a bit) connected to ~5ft of 6" ducting bringing in air from an open window.

In the top sleeve of the tent I have the other hydrofarm inline fan blowing air through the hood, which on the other side is connected to the squirrel blower. So yes, the hood is sealed.

However, I currently have nothing to exhaust the tent. I'm thinking about returning the hepa filter + x1 inline fan (since thats almost $200 ) and just getting two $20 80cfm fans (one for intake and one for exhaust)... would that be sufficient? Thanks again for the help!

looks good dude! keep up the good work!

So after some closer inspection it appears as though a few of my plants have mites. I clipped and threw away the few leaves where it appeared to be infested the worst. Luckily it looks like i caught it pretty early on so hopefully all the plants should survive. I just finished treating all of the ladies with some neem oil, so hopefully that should get things moving in the right direction again. Have now also purchased 4" (80cfm) fan to exhaust the tent through the top, as well as a hanna pH pen. Still haven't borrowed a camera from my friend, but as soon as Im able i'll be sure and get some better pictures up!

Also looking for a reccomendation on how often to exhaust the room. I've only got a few 15min interval timers so I was thinking ill have the exhaust fan run for the last 15 min of every hour? Looking up more info now but any input is greatly appreciated!!

i also saw in the first pic that the leaves are pretty wilted.

unless it's a strong stroooong indica strain, mj leaves are perky and lively.

it may be the high temps, over or under watering, or the lack of nutes.

start feeding them at 1/4 strength soon..

redivider said:

i also saw in the first pic that the leaves are pretty wilted.

unless it's a strong stroooong indica strain, mj leaves are perky and lively.

it may be the high temps, over or under watering, or the lack of nutes.

start feeding them at 1/4 strength soon..

Click to expand...

Yea, I'm thinking it was a combination of my pH being off (which I'm now keeping right at 5.8 thanks to the digital meter) and the fact that I hadn't been using any nutrients on them. I've started using Humboldt Roots and Botanicare Pure Blend grow (3-2-4), both at half strength, and the plants are looking much better. The yellowing is still present on those few plants, but the new growth is much greener and all of the leaves are stretching towards the light!

Ive also brought the inline blowing air through the hood into the tent, hopefully making it a little quieter and more efficient.

Still looking for the best timing for intake/exhaust of a 4'x4'x6.5' if anyone has any suggestions.

Still waiting to use a friend's camera, but new pictures are coming soon...

Sorry it took so long but here are some pictures from about a week ago... ive been feeding them at 1/2 strength and they've been responding well. Ill snap some new pictures later tonight and get them posted tomorrow too! Cheers!

decided to just snap the new pictures and post them now. Ladies are 3-4 weeks old now. let me know if you have any questions or comments!!

EDIT: forgot to mention that I FIMd all of the ladies today (LA woman & Island sweet skunk a few days ago), so I cant wait to see what the new growth does!!

2nd edit: is that nitrogen claw on the la woman?

Plants look good. You say there is a hepa filter on the intake? Is it a panel filter? You're going to want as much air flow as possible. I'd simply cover the end of the intake duct with Nylons (Panty hoes) or something similar just to keep insects and other debris out. everything else sounds like its in order.

i dont understand why people think mid 80's hurts this weed. i grow it out doors here every season and its gets above 110 in the summer. never is it below 90 during the day, but yet i yield a couple pounds/plant. i would think c02 would kill before mid 80's.